Six Months

by Dark, Dannika

  A shrill scream flew out of my mouth and I shut my eyes, as if that would make him disappear. “This can’t be real. Can’t be. Can’t be!”

  Reno was on all fours and quickly sat back, wrapping the sheet around his waist. My God, he looked all kinds of hot. He had strong cords of muscles in his arms, no tattoos, and defined abs like male models I’d seen on the Internet. Not that I looked up male models on the Internet, but sometimes a girl accidentally stumbles across pictures when she’s searching for… um… recipes.

  “You can’t tell anyone, April. That’s the rule. No one. I’m entrusting you with a secret and it’s the kind with consequences if you break that trust. I’m not kidding around. They’ll get a Vampire to scrub your memory if you betray us, and even worse, I’ve seen humans just disappear.”

  The last thing I needed in my life was more trouble. “Vampires? I’ve finally gone crazy. I’m having one of those mental breakdowns.”

  “Then I’m on the crazy train with you. It’s real, April. I’d do it again, but I don’t want to frighten you.”

  My hands trembled and I hugged my knees, staring apprehensively at him. “Is Lexi one of you?”

  Reno rubbed his hand across his chest and sighed. “She should be the one telling you all this. Lexi just went through the change a few months ago. You were going to find out one way or another. If you two form a long-term business relationship, then you have a right to know. Austin disagrees and thinks you won’t stick around at the shop—that you’ll take off and find a new career. Is that what you plan to do?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Can we not talk about my career path while you’re shedding on my sheets?”

  He threw his legs over the bed and planted his feet on the floor. “Is someone after you, April? I can’t help unless you talk to me, and I’m the kind of man who can help.” He stepped into a pair of boxers and crouched in front of me. “I can offer you protection,” he said, cupping my cheeks and giving me a solid stare.

  “Why was your wolf hanging around my house to begin with? Isn’t it a little out of the way from where you live?”

  “You’re good at evading answers with questions.” He let go and placed his hands on my knees. “I don’t know. Shifters have to share the same spirit with an animal and that means we have to let them out regularly. I usually go for runs in the wooded area on the outskirts of the city. He knows not to go near humans, but maybe he sensed you were in trouble. I don’t know why the hell he would have shown himself to you. We’re not that different from humans. Wolves form packs and live together as a family. We protect one another and get jobs to take care of our home.”

  “Except you also have a tail.”

  Then his eyes went molten. “You saved my wolf, April. That’s a big fucking deal in my world, and you’re not even a Shifter. That’s an act of valor that earns you respect among my kind,” he said, his eyes focusing on my mouth. “I owe you my life.”

  “You need to leave, Reno. I want you out of my house. I don’t want to see you again.”

  “Let’s talk about—”

  “No. There’s nothing to say. You lied to me and I’m…”

  “What?”

  “I’m scared of what you are. Besides that, did you think it was okay to just strip out of your clothes and snuggle up in my bed? You must not think much of me. That alone gets you thrown out of my house because I can’t believe you thought I’d be down with spooning someone I barely know! And I go to one party, and the next thing that happens, your brother is giving me drugs. How can I trust you? You weren’t there to protect me. Then some naked guy, drugged out of his mind, decides that he wants to climb on top of me and make me his pet.”

  Reno stood up in a violent motion and stalked to the side of the bed, yanking on his jeans. “I’m going to take care of that problem.” His voice grew cold and deadly. “And just so you know, my brother is going to get what’s coming to him, but he wouldn’t have hurt you. If you say no, he’ll back off. Didn’t look like you were saying no to Jericho,” he pointed out.

  “I was stoned!” I screamed, catapulting to my feet.

  He tugged on a shoe and laced it up. “Another reason his ass is in the doghouse.” Reno buckled his belt while holding his sunglasses between his teeth. “Call your friend and check on him, but be sure you’re here at five.”

  “Why?”

  “We have a date.”

  “Oh, we do?” I made a sound with my lips like a horse and flounced into the kitchen, where I poured a glass of apple juice. “I don’t seem to remember you asking.”

  “I don’t need to,” he said, coming up behind me. Then he planted a tender kiss on the back of my neck and I wilted like a willow tree. “If you can’t handle this because you think I’m a freak, then I get it. Humans aren’t able to deal with finding out there’s more to life than what they see on the news—it’s why we keep it a secret. Less trouble. But if you’re just pissed off at me for everything else that happened last night, then we’re talking. I’m not turning my back on you.”

  I turned around. “You’re not a freak.” I’d never want anyone to feel that way.

  His lips twitched. “Good. Five sharp. And put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.”

  Okay, a little weird. “You don’t want me dressing up?”

  “You looked… damn sexy in that dress last night, April. Couldn’t take my eyes off you. But that’s you trying to look good for a bunch of strangers. I just want you to be yourself around me. Got it?”

  Hmm, my inner voice thought. Then pink lace panties and a black bra it is!

  “How come nobody knows you guys exist?” Still skeptical, I folded my arms and refused to believe any of this could be real. Perhaps if I buried my head in the sand like an ostrich, the logical side of my brain would win. I used to pretend when I was little that we lived in a world of magic, but finding out Shifters were walking around Austin, Texas? Yet how could I dismiss what I’d seen with my own eyes?

  “What do you think? You’re a smart girl, April. Think about what it would mean if we came out to humans. I can’t explain why I exist, but here I am,” he said, briefly raising his heavy arms before dropping them again. “We live longer than humans, but we’re not immortal. I’ve served in three wars, traveled outside the country seven times, watched this world change in the blink of an eye, and I’ve witnessed a lot of senseless shit. It’s why I got into PI work. I feel like I’m on the right side of the law and I can make a difference. Whatever happened here last night had nothing to do with your friend, and I’m gonna find out the story whether you tell me the truth or not. Now get dressed because I’m taking you to work.”

  “Wait, what? It’s my day off.”

  “Not anymore.”

  My hair looked like scrambled eggs and he wanted me to go to work on my day off?

  “I don’t feel good.”

  “Then you’re going to drink water and sit down a lot, but you’re going to work. That’s the Shifter way; you dust yourself off and move on.”

  “I’m not a Shifter.”

  Reno’s face flushed with anger. “I’m not leaving you alone knowing that asshole who almost killed your friend could be coming back for seconds. I’ll pick you up from work, so grab a change of clothes,” he said, sitting in a tiny kitchen chair that creaked beneath his weight.

  I turned around and stormed down the hall.

  “Princess?”

  When I peered over my shoulder, Reno had his fist tucked against his cheek.

  “Anyone ever tell you how pretty your hazel eyes are when you’re mad?”

  I blushed, and that made me even madder. “Are you goading me?”

  “No, just sweet-talking.”

  “Don’t be nice to me, Reno. I’m not in the mood for nice.”

  “Music to my ears,” he said with a chuckle as I yanked the curtain closed.

  ***

  When Reno walked in the Weston house after dropping April off at work, a sigh of disgust blew pa
st his lips. There were muddy paw prints across the floor, scuffed-up rugs, and scratches on the doors. Guests had left their plates everywhere, so the girls were frantically trying to clean it up before Lynn returned from her vacation. That woman wouldn’t just have a cow if she saw this mess—she’d have a herd.

  “Shoes off!” Lexi barked as she hiked up the stairs. Reno kicked off his boots and followed behind her.

  “Where’s Jericho?”

  She didn’t bother to turn around. “After the shit he pulled last night? Austin is having a little chat with him. You know what he actually said? He said that our peace parties were lame and all he was doing was livening things up.”

  “Your friend knows about us now,” Reno confessed.

  Lexi gracefully spun around, a mixed expression of anger and relief on her face. “Well, maybe that’s a good thing. Although now she’ll think we’re all batshit crazy and will probably turn in her resignation at Sweet Treats.”

  “Not likely,” he said with a soft chuckle. “She’s up there now.”

  “I gave her the day off.” Lexi swatted at a fly buzzing around her leg, then turned around to climb the stairs.

  “Long story,” Reno said. “Any damage?”

  “Uh, besides our reputation?”

  Yeah, that was going to be problematic. Not keeping a peace party under control in front of the Packmasters wasn’t a shining example of Austin’s leadership skills and dependability as an ally.

  Denver emerged from the game room wearing knee-length cargo pants and a threadbare T-shirt. He held a white kitchen trash can filled with beer bottles and paper plates.

  “You could stand there or help out,” Denver said, setting the bin by the wall.

  “Let’s get something straight,” Reno began, approaching him with a menacing stride. While Austin was the alpha of the pack, they all had their rank, and Reno was second-in-command. “I don’t ever want to see you putting your hands on April again. I don’t care if she’s naked and leaning over your truck with a wet sponge and a bucket of suds. You keep your distance and we’ll be cool.”

  A smile softened Denver’s face. He tried to mash it into a frown, but it wasn’t working. “Well, thanks for implanting that erotic visual of April in my head for the rest of my life. I’ll never look at a car wash the same again. Calling dibs? Looks like someone has a pet,” he said in a smartass tone, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his forearm. “Didn’t know you went for humans. That’s cool. You got nothing to worry about with me; I was just trying to get some game last night and I didn’t see anyone else stepping up to stake his claim.” Then he pinched his chin and frowned. “Now, why do you think that is? Maybe you need to back off and stop getting territorial over something that isn’t yours.”

  Reno’s irritation level spiked. Denver walked off and began opening the bedroom doors, peering in.

  “Looks like the rooms we kept closed off were left alone,” he called out to Lexi, who had disappeared in the bathroom at the end of the hall. “Christ almighty! What the train wreck is going on in here?”

  Lexi burst into the hall, clutching her chest. “What’s wrong?”

  Denver stood before the open door that went into Lynn’s bedroom. “It looks like a Smurf exploded.”

  Her shoulders sagged and she rolled her eyes, closing the door. “Jesus, you scared me. My mom likes the color blue. Don’t say anything to her or she’ll be furious you were in her bedroom. Good thing she didn’t do this to the rest of the house, so just let her have her space.”

  He threw his hands up defensively. “I’m all for Lynn having her own space if that’s the end result. Has she seen a professional about that problem?”

  Lexi smacked him on the arm and he let out a snort as he picked up the trash and jogged down the stairs.

  “Do you want to help?” Lexi asked, looking weary. “We’ve cleaned the trash off the lawn, but I’m getting tired, and there’s still a lot to do inside.”

  Reno felt a surge of protectiveness begin to surface. Packs looked after their women, even the mated ones. “Go lie down and take a nap for a few hours. Have you eaten today?”

  “Yeah. Austin cooked breakfast burritos about an hour ago. Leftovers are on the stove if you want any. If Austin asks why I’m not cleaning, tell him I’m overheated and underappreciated.”

  Reno waited until she went into the bedroom and closed the door. Then he jogged downstairs and ate three of the burritos on the stove. They were already cold, but the eggs and sausage hit the spot.

  Austin came through the back door in the kitchen and kicked off his shoes at the entrance. He tossed his baseball hat on the table and despite the agreeable weather, he was beet red beneath his tan.

  “Damn Jericho. One of these days he’s going to get us in serious hot water with the other local packs.”

  Reno licked the grease off his thumb and leaned back. They had a spacious kitchen with tall windows along the back wall. The table from the old house had ended up on the curb and they’d bought a new one that could seat twenty. Ivy had found a child’s table at a rummage sale and placed it in the right corner of the room against the wall by the doorway. Lexi’s little sister enjoyed sharing a meal with a doll or her invisible friend. It was nice having a six-year-old in the house; it reminded Reno what packs were all about.

  Family.

  “Where’s Jerko?” Reno asked, finishing the rest of his juice. “Shouldn’t he be the one cleaning up this mess?”

  Austin took a seat across the table and laced his fingers together. “Jericho’s staying with a friend for a couple of nights. I told him he needs to get his act together.”

  “So you kicked him out?” Reno shifted in his seat. He’d have a real problem if that were true because you didn’t turn your back on family for something like this.

  “No,” Austin grumbled, sliding his jaw to the right. “If you fuck up in my pack, fine. You’ll answer to me, and I won’t go easy. But you’d have to do something serious for me to give you the boot. Jericho needs to clear his head and I don’t want you boys messing with him while the dust is still settling. We need time to cool off and see what the situation is with the neighboring packs. I’ve spoken privately with three of the Packmasters, and we’re still in good standing with them. Plus, I think Lexi’s wolf is itching to take a bite out of Jericho for ruining the party,” he said with a private chuckle. “That woman is something else. Someday she’ll give me strong sons, of that I have no doubt.”

  “Are you two starting up a family soon?”

  Austin scratched his jaw. “The pack is new and I want to put a few years behind us. Lexi loves kids and told me she’s ready when I am. I think she’ll say anything to get me to have sex with her while she’s in heat, so I’ll take that with a grain of salt.”

  Lexi was an excellent bitch, even though she’d kick your ass three times over for calling her that. Heck, Austin would take care of that for her. That was a rule in the house—one word they couldn’t call Lexi. While the word didn’t carry a derogatory meaning among their own kind, they were aware it did among humans. Lexi had grown up with humans, and for her, it wasn’t a nice word to call a lady.

  Reno privately thought to himself that he’d make a concerted effort to avoid using that word around April. Then the thought of another man calling her a bitch stirred a venomous fire in him.

  Reno lowered his voice. “You ever heard of a man named Maddox?”

  Austin’s eyes flashed up with suspicion. “What do you want with him?”

  “His name came up for a job I’m on. It has me curious because I didn’t think he’d turn out to be a Shifter.”

  “Not a wolf,” Austin corrected. “But yeah, he’s a Shifter. Maddox has a thick reputation as a favor-trader, but I heard he branched off into monetary loans. I’ve never met him, but when I was a bounty hunter, a few of the guys I brought in had dealings with him.”

  “Is he dangerous?”

  Austin wiped the sweat from his face and ran
his fingers through a tuft of dark hair. “Who can say? I didn’t get much information from the men I busted—only that they were trying to scramble up cash to pay him off.”

  Most Breeds didn’t get financially tangled up with humans, so it was an unusual situation. Reno’s connections had recognized the name and identified Maddox Cane as a Shifter. While Reno had bigger things on his mind, like who was after April, he owed Wheeler to help him sort out this mess with Sweet Treats. Wheeler didn’t work for Lexi, but she needed someone with experience in accounting. Wheeler had no choice in the matter. A good Packmaster knows that a man needs work to feel dignified, so Austin had voluntold him for the job.

  Lexi shuffled into the kitchen in a pair of loose shorts and a brown T-shirt, her long hair bound in a ponytail. She lingered by the stove and sleepily glanced at the empty plate where the breakfast burritos used to be.

  Reno felt a pang of guilt for not having left her one. “I thought you were upstairs taking a nap.”

  She shrugged. “I can’t sleep. I’m too hungry.”

  Austin crossed the room and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the side of her neck. “Me too,” he murmured.

  “You’re all sweaty,” she complained.

  “Mmmhmm,” he agreed, kissing her some more. “I think I need someone to wash me off.”

  Reno took that as his cue to head out. He had a few errands to run before picking up April at the store. One of them being a quick visit to the sonofabitch at the party who had put his hands on her.

  Chapter 14

  I was irritated with Reno for driving me to work on my day off. I organized the displays to keep busy, but I felt detached and anxious. The residual effects of the night before still plagued my thoughts. The worst part was I had no idea which part made me want to run into the streets screaming. Sanchez? Trevor? Shifters? Drugs? Waking up next to a naked man?

  Well, maybe not so much the last part. Reno was undoubtedly the sexiest alarm clock I’d ever snoozed on.